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Chicago's Best Ideas

Geof Stone, "Understanding Supreme Court Confirmations"

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How has the Supreme Court confirmation process changed over the years? Are members of the Senate more prone to oppose nominees today than they were in the past? If so, to what extent is this due to the controversy over the Bork nomination?


64:39 minutes (59.19 MB)

CBI: Martha Nussbaum, "Teaching Patriotism"

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Date: 
04.10.2012
Location: 
University of Chicago Law School, Classroom II

Schools teach patriotism all the time, but many people think that this is a bad idea.  Patriotic rituals may convey misplaced and hierarchical values; they may coerce conscience; and they may promote a dangerous type of uncritical homogeneity.  On the other hand, it seems difficult to motivate sacrifices of self-interest for the common good without patriotic emotion.  I argue tha

Faculty: 
Martha Nussbaum

Anu Bradford, "The Brussels Effect: The Rise of a Regulatory Superstate in Europe"

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It is common to hear Europe described today as the power of the past. Europe is perceived to be weak militarily. Its relative economic power is declining as Asia’s is rising. Its common currency may be on the verge of disintegrating. On the world stage, the European Union is thought to be waning into irrelevance due to its inability to speak with one voice.

Anup Malani, "Contract Law, Transactions Costs and the Boundary of the Firm"

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In 1937, Ronald Coase asked a profound question: if markets are so efficient at allocating resources, why are so many resources allocated within firms? Coase’s answer was that market allocation entailed transactions costs and, when these were very high, transactions will take place within firms.

Geof Stone, "Understanding Supreme Court Confirmations"

in

How has the Supreme Court confirmation process changed over the years? Are members of the Senate more prone to oppose nominees today than they were in the past? If so, to what extent is this due to the controversy over the Bork nomination?

Anup Malani, "Contract Law, Transactions Costs and the Boundary of the Firm"

in

In 1937, Ronald Coase asked a profound question: if markets are so efficient at allocating resources, why are so many resources allocated within firms?  Coase’s answer was that market allocation entailed transactions costs and, when these were very high, transactions will take place within firms.


63:50 minutes (58.44 MB)

Craig Futterman, "Race in the Obama Era"

in

As we near the end of the first term of our nation’s first African American President, does race still matter? How have our perceptions of race changed?

Anu Bradford, "The Brussels Effect: The Rise of a Regulatory Superstate in Europe"

in

It is common to hear Europe described today as the power of the past. Europe is perceived to be weak militarily. Its relative economic power is declining as Asia’s is rising.  Its common currency may be on the verge of disintegrating.


53:06 minutes (48.62 MB)

CBI: Omri Ben-Shahar, "No Contract"

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Date: 
03.27.2012
Location: 
Room II

A popular type of consumer transaction is called "No Contract."  Businesses lure consumers with the "no contract" assurance - a promise that consumer can walk away anytime, without any commitment. This scheme is increasingly common in cable and phone services, health clubs, security services, and other transactions that used to require minimum duration.

Faculty: 
Omri Ben-Shahar

Chicago's Best Ideas with Professor Aziz Huq: Forum Choice for Terrorist Suspects

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Date: 
02.07.2012
Location: 
Room II

What forum should be employed to adjudicate the status of persons suspected of involvement in terrorism? Recent clashes between Congress and the President as to whether the status of terrorism suspects should be determined via Article III criminal process or military commissions have revived debate on this venue question.

Faculty: 
Aziz Huq
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